31.08.07 – Victor Oganov (left) and Fulgencio Zuniga each weighed in at 167 pounds Friday. The hard-hitting Oganov (26-0, 26 KOs) and Zuniga (19-2-1, 16 KOs) clash for the vacant IBO super middleweight title in the main event in a special edition of “ShoBox: The New Generation” Saturday on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT). Photos: TOM CASINO/SHOWTIME.
QUOTES:
OGANOV: “Everybody is always asking me if there is pressure to win by knockout. I have been asked that so much it is almost funny. The answer is, and always has been, there is no pressure at all.
“I only want to win; if the knockout happens it happens.
(Unbeaten WBO No. 10-ranked junior middleweight James Kirkland (19-0, 16 KOs) faces Mohammad Said (22-5-1, 14 KOs) in the Gary Shaw Productions-promoted co-feature at Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Wash. Kirkland (left) weighed 154 1/2 pounds Friday; Said weighed 158.) “This is a very important fight for me because it is my first for a title and my first on SHOWTIME. I am very excited. I know this is my chance to show a lot of people that have never seen me before what I can do.”
ZUNIGA: “I am ready to go 12 hard rounds. I hope he is, too. I am as prepared as I can be. I know what a good opportunity this is.
“He has a lot of knockouts, but I am not impressed. He has built his record up against nobodies. Who has he fought? I have fought much better.
“Anything he brings, I will be ready for.”
KIRKLAND: “I am real happy with the way my career is going and I am really looking forward to fighting on SHOWTIME again.
“I have trained the last month in Los Angeles, which was different for me, because I usually train in Texas. But I think it did me a lot of good.
“Like always, I have trained to fight 20 rounds. I think I have proved that I am not just one of those guys that can fight hard for a few rounds and then collapse, or whatever. The days of my opponents waiting for me to tire myself out and take me into the late rounds are over.
“I don’t know much about Said, but it doesn’t matter. If I do my job and do what I am supposed to do, I will be fine.”
SAID: “I have never trained as hard for a fight as this one. I think my conditioning and overall experience will play a big role.
“Deep down, I know I can beat Kirkland. It may surprise some people after I win, but it won’t surprise me.
“I really appreciate this opportunity and I am going to make the best of it.”